Heritage Glen: Learning from One Another & Erasing Class Lines

Learning from one another

Nearly every Heritage Glen resident with children spoke about the valuable network of parents at Heritage Glen. Resident Carmen Aquino, as well as other mothers, talked about how bus-stop chats are common daily occurrences where parents of every background exchange information about their everyday lives and their children’s schooling.

The exchanges happen after school, too: one woman, the mother of a son with a disability, noted how a girl about her son’s age living next door to her frequently comes over to play, providing an opportunity for the girl to learn about a child different from her, and vice versa. She grew up in Farmington, and after downsizing from a house due to the financial priority of her son’s disability, was able to remain in the town that she loves due to the affordability of Heritage Glen.

Erasing class lines

Such relationships among parents provide the “common denominator” that links together Heritage Glen residents, more so than socioeconomic class or ethnic background, as Lisa, a resident of the development, explains. Lisa and other residents felt strongly that they are more likely to form relationships with their neighbors based on factors such as personality, parenting, or being business owners, and are unaware of the rate at which their neighbors rent their homes. Fellow resident Sara Rogers, whose husband completed dental school at the nearby University of Connecticut site and currently belongs to a private practice, explained how her family has formed relationships with other graduate-school families in Heritage Glen.

Oftentimes, the gestures that form neighborly relationships across class lines are simple, like when Carol Harrison frequently offers to watch her neighbors’ homes when they go of town. Rogers explains how this sense of trust pervades Heritage Glen, to an extent that allows neighbors to be friendlier with someone of a different background than they would normally be.

A Deeper Look Inside Heritage Glen

Has Heritage Glen been a success? Take a look at what the experts and statistics tell us about the following issues in this mixed-income community: